Moderat Likvidation (Swedish hardcore punk band)

Moderat Likvidation (lit. 'Moderate Liquidation') is a Swedish hardcore punk band formed in Malmö in 1980 by guitarist Per Berglund and singer Patrik "Fjalle" Wisemark. The band originally existed between 1980 and 1985, but reunited in 2007. In 2009, the band put out a new full-length album, titled Mammutation. The word "moderate" in the band name refers to the Swedish conservative Moderate Party. In 1982, in the line-up with Stefan Elfgren (drums) and Clifford "Cliff" Lundberg (bass), they made the first recording of the song "Nitad". The band considered that first version a rough demo, but it was this version that got broadcast on Swedish national radio, which led to instant "fame"[citation needed] for the band. The song is also noteworthy as it captures the Swedish D-beat trend in a nutshell.[citation needed] Together with Anti Cimex, Moderat Likvidation was the first Swedish band to pick the beat up, and use it on many of their tracks, although Moderat Likvidation never totally went into the D-beat genre, staring themselves blind at Discharge as many others, but tried to stick to the development of their own sound as well. Nevertheless, "Nitad", when it came, was the fastest, most brutal D-beat song recorded in Sweden, and Europe.[citation needed] It was in Malmö where the notion and expression D-beat first was coined. Before Malmö 1982, no one used the word. This word was in Swedish (D-takt) but it spread, first throughout Sweden and then, transformed into English, all over the world.[citation needed] After their breakthrough with "Nitad", the band went through a transformation where Fjalle left the band to be replaced by Thomas "Tobbe" Sjöberg on the lead vocals. In this line-up they recorded and commercially released the self-titled 7-inch EP Moderat Likvidation, later commonly referred to as the "Nitad EP", since the first song on the EP was the rerecorded version of the song (even faster it may be added). Together with Tobbe, they also recorded and released the cassette Anti Fag Music (Ägg Tapes, 1983), which led to a lot of discussions and misunderstandings about their political convictions. The title of the release as well as the title song "Anti Fag" has nothing to do with not liking homosexuals. It was just a play with words and something silly and nonsensical to say - hence funny -, which becomes clear to anyone who knows Swedish and reads the lyrics of the song.[citation needed] The song was written in the studio and references Johnny Bodes Bordellmammans visor. Both these recordings were made in the fall of 1983. But whereas the cassette was released shortly after, the EP had to wait until spring 1984 to be released, due to lack of finances. They had to pay everything themselves, and as they were all unemployed, it took some time for them to raise the money. There weren't any organized raw punk labels around in Sweden at that time so bands had to do it themselves.[citation needed] The EP is therefore released on their own label Kuknacke Records. In the beginning of summer 1984, the band broke up as a result of inner conflicts and turmoil. By that time, Moderat Likvidation had grown to be a force to be considered,[citation needed] and the name had started travelling the world. Not once did they get the opportunity to play outside of Sweden, but when they broke up they had contacts and plans for a smaller tour in Finland and England and a longer one in Italy. Nothing of that happened, and the members all went off in different directions, hardly keeping contact with each other, one exception being Fjalle and Cliff, who dabbled together in Black Uniforms for a while. Then Fjalle went off to Los Angeles for 15 years and the threads between the former members disintegrated. In 2006, the band was reunited much thanks to Stefan who got in contact with Fjalle. The former singer was moving back to Sweden and could tell that Moderat Likvidation was a quite acknowledged act "over there". Stefan contacted Per and Cliff and got the first interested, but the latter not. The practical work of the reunion all took the shape of straightening out some general misunderstandings about what is a bootleg and what is not. Per and Stefan were in personal keeps of the original 1/4-inch master tapes and had been neither consulted nor asked about providing anything to the Distortion Records release "Kuknacke" in 1991. Much to their dismay, no profits had reached them either. The whole thing was foul play, but they also understood that much thanks to the Distortion release their name had lived on to meet a new generation punk rockers.[citation needed] But they felt they really wanted to make the release "their own", so to say, and the sound quality would improve dramatically, making a pressing from the real masters than from a vinyl EP and an ordinary cassette. So they looked around for a suitable label and found many interested ones from around the globe. They settled for Havoc Records (USA) and made a total reissue of their catalogue. This came in the following guise: three different 7-inch EPs: Marionett i Kedjor, Nitad, Köttahuve, first released in a special and limited "boxed" edition with some paraphernalia and the vinyls in three different colors (which led to confusion since the colors got mixed with content so people would have to by the entire suite and swap the records to get it right), followed by an unlimited pressing with the three EPs sold separately and in ordinary black vinyl. After that, it was time for the CD release Never Mind The Bootlegs, which contained all the material compiled together in the chronological order of original recording. Despite, or maybe thanks to, the two first line-ups hardly making it beyond the rehearsal room, they were able to bury themselves in hours of practice, and as a result they grew increasingly proficient on their instruments and were able to play faster and harder, slowly drifting away from the punk sound of the seventies and into the eighties, towards a harder, more contemporary sound.[citation needed] Eventually, Per and Fjalle had to make some fundamental changes in the line-up to accomplish this. In 1982, the first “real” line-up was a fact, called Moderat Likvidation Mark I, consisting of Per, Fjalle, Stefan and Cliff. Now they solidified and produced a recording that would carry the watermark of their typical sound, a sound that eventually would render them international reputation and acclaim – which at the time being couldn’t be further away from their minds; they just struggled to get their act together and considered the recording to be a rough demo. The songs on the 1982 tape found their way onto different compilations, but were initially never put on vinyl. The big turnaround for the band was when the song Nitad was played on the alternative radio show Ny Våg (meaning New Wave) that was broadcast on National Radio all over Sweden. The requests for them started dropping in and a series of chaotic gigs saw to that their reputation grew; they were an exhaustive live act and always up for some good mischief. But along with success came tearings in the band and soon Fjalle departed, being replaced by Tobbe on the vocals. Tobbe, who had had some minor success in a local Malmö punk act called Hjärnsubstans was chaotic and disorderly enough to fit into the band. The year is now 1983 and the Mark II setting is here. The ambitions in the band had grown and they decided to record a 7-inch EP. It also entailed a rerecording of some of the songs from the 1982 tape ("Nitad, Tio Timmar, Enola Gay") but with slight modifications. Soon after that, in fact they had merely left the studio, the band won a contest announced in a local newspaper, which led them straight into yet another recording situation; the first prize in the contest being a demo recording session with the Malmö Radio’s brand new (and quite impressive) Mobile Recording Unit. The place of recording was set to the old Victoria Theatre in the city